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Titanic auction 101 years after sinking

TITANICMEMORABILIAGALLERY

Auctioneer Alan Aldridge with bandleader Wallace Hartley's violin in front of an image of the ill-fated Titanic. Auction house Henry Aldridge & son of Devizes, England states it has gone to great lengths to prove the provenance of the violin, including that it had been immersed in sea water. Today is the 101st anniversary of the sinking of the ship. The violin and other Titanic-related items are to be auctioned this week. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

A locket containing a photograph of Titanic bandleader Wallace Hartley, which is being auctioned this week. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

A ring recovered from Hartley's remains. The auctioneers say his body was recovered from the Atlantic 10 days after the sinking by the cable ship Mackay-Bennett, and that strapped to it was his bag containing his violin and other items. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge of Henry Aldridge & son holds a letter from Wallace Hartley which was written aboard the doomed Titanic. The auction house specialises in Titanic memorabilia and is having an associated sale this Saturday. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Wallace Hartley's violin is displayed at auctioneers Henry Aldridge & son. The auction house has apparently spent seven years proving the violin genuinely belonged to Hartley, who with his orchestra famously played as the Titanic sank in April 1912, and died with so many others. Long thought to have been either lost at sea or stolen, it is being described as one the most important Titanic-related pieces that has ever come up for sale and is thought to be worth a six-figure sum. It is the property of an unidentified individual in Lancashire. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

A detail from the Hartley violin. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Scissors found on the remains of Wallace Hartley. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Wallace Hartley's travel case, which held the violin he played as Titanic band leader. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images